To expand on what Amy said, we have been doing house dances we call Calling Parties every Wednesday for the last 8 years. One of the most important parts of this is a inviting new dancers to attend. This has proven to be useful on two fronts: it gets new people to bond to the group; it gives you the chance to see if you can teach the dance successfully.
Sent from my iPad > On Jul 7, 2015, at 4:43 PM, Amy Wimmer via Callers > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Claire, > > A list of what has helped me: > > I have learned lots just by closely listening to callers I like as they call. > Take notes. > Ask if you may record them. > A very valuable tool is house dances, where a small, supportive group > gathers for the purpose of learning together. (We're doing this > tonight in Seattle) > Get a small group of callers together to talk about the way they teach moves. > Look for calling workshops. > Try open mic dances. > Check out the books available through CDSS. > > -Amy Wimmer > Seattle > > >> On Jul 7, 2015, at 1:10 PM, Claire Takemori via Callers >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi. I just called my first contra dance at camp last week. I didn't die, >> so I'm thinking of working with our son's nature class to do some family >> dances. >> >> In the meantime, I will try to call a contra when I can as a guest at our >> local dances. >> >> Do you know of a source/s (would you share yours) that has good clear >> wording for how to teach things like Hey, Pull-by, California Twirl, >> Petronella, Rory O'more, etc? >> >> I will ask good callers if I can record their teachings when I'm at dances >> with lots of beginners..... >> >> Where else can I learn good, simple wording? I sure don't want to reinvent >> it myself...... >> >> Thanks! >> claire takemori >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Callers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
